All 13 members of New York City’s Congressional delegation sent a letter on Thursday to Judith Enck, the regional administrator of the E.P.A., asking the agency to take over primary responsibility for the problem from the city Department of Education.

Until the EPA steps in, the NYC schools hang in limbo (as do the rest of the country’s public schools). Classes continue to be held in rooms shown to contain dangerously high levels of PCBs and there are no short-term recommendations for improving ventilation, such as keeping windows open.

Approximately 700 NYC schools are waiting in line for remediation once the pilot is completed. Now, people are beginning to wonder who should be in charge of this massive undertaking.

The city, in an agreement with the E.P.A., agreed to take the lead role in remediation and testing in January in the more than 700 schools built during that period, but the elected officials gathered outside City Hall Thursday afternoon said that they wanted the E.P.A. back in charge. (New York Times)